The Green And The Gold
by Invisiblegirl3
Summary: Disclaimer- Anything you recognize from the Harry Potter books belongs to J.K. Rowling ie Hogwarts, Dumbledore, exc. Two twins are pined against each other by the age-old rivalry that stands between Gryffindor and Slytherin. This is their tale.
1. Chapter 1

The Death Toll

Never was there a more morbid air about Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.

People were hugging, crying, glad it was finally over. Everyone was jumbled in that one room and most were too tired to deal with the dead for now. But, they knew, someone would eventually have the terrible task of identifying the dead. Harry, Ron, and Hermione had gone off somewhere to recover, leaving the identifications and burials to Luna, Ginny, Dean, Neville, and the other members of the DA.

The members of the DA paired up and were givenna sheet to write down the names of the fallen and were assigned an area of the great hall. All of the Death Eaters and Voldemort were in a classroom down the hall, away from the other bodies, and the remaining members of The Order of the Phoenix offered to handle that room.

Seamus Finnigan and Katie Bell had the north-eastern corner of the hall. Katie was recording.

"Elizabeth Monroe, Ravenclaw." Seamus said, his voice emotionless.

"Faith Shacklebolt, Hufflepuff."

A cry came from across the room. George had found his twin.

"Adam Bennet, Gryffindor."

"Ryan Gordon, Hufflepuff."

"Dana Gifford, Gryffindor."

"Jackson McMillian, Ravenclaw," Katie whimpered. Jackson had been like her little brother, their parents were old friends.

"Colin Lewis, Gryffindor."

The pair came across two girls with identical features, identical blond ponytails, and identical determined looks on their cold faces. They were still tightly clutching their wands. The only thing that was not identical about them was the colour of their robes. "Rachel Williamson, Gryffindor. Lydia Williamson, Slytherin." Seamus` voice quavered a bit, and he couldn't bring himself to look at the girl he had befriended all those years ago, and her sister who, in death, looked peaceful for once.

This was too much for Katie. The tragic irony was too much. Between the twins, Fred, Jackson, and the countless others, Katie had reached her long overdue limit. She broke out in tears. The quill dropped out of her hands.

Seamus hugged Katie. He didn't need to say anything. He understood. Rachel had been one of his best friends.

Seamus looked at Rachel, the same as she had always been, loyal to the end. Her necklace she had made with her Dumbledore`s Army coin was still around her neck. Then, Seamus saw something out of the corner of his eye. A golden chain was also around Lydia`s neck. But hadn't she….Didn't she…?

Katie noticed it too. She knelt down hesitantly examined the Slytherin girl`s necklace. It was identical to her sister`s necklace.

"She…she did keep it after all. She kept her promise. That`s why she came back, she _was_ one of us!" Katie gasped, her voice just above a whisper.

Katie thought of Ernie Macmillan, across the Great Hall, identifying corpses when his own brother lied among the dead.

Seamus was still staring at the twins, tears in his eyes. "I thought they hated each other. I haven't seen them peacefully together since…." He paused, thoughtfully. "Since about the Hogwarts Express, first year. The first time I met Rae and Lydia."


	2. Chapter 2

First Year

Two girls with identical wide blue eyes clutched their mother`s hands tightly.

"There it is!" The girl on the left whispered in amazement, like a muggle seeing a unicorn, as she pointed to the dividing barrier between platforms 9 and 10. "It really is just on the other side?"

"Shhh, Ray, you`ll tell all the muggles if you don't keep your voice down." The other girl said, her perfect posture making her just a fraction taller than her twin. The two girls stared at the barrier as a fiery haired boy and his sister disappeared into it.

"Who wants to go first?" The girl`s mother asked.

The sister on the right tried to mask her fear, and said nothing. The one on the left sensed this and knew, though her sister was two proud to admit it, that going to Hogwarts was one of the few things Lydia Williamson was afraid of. That, and crickets. Rachel knew what she had to do, even though she was a bit scared too.

"I`ll go. See you on the other side, Lydie." Rachel let go of her mother`s hand and gripped her cart tightly, and, before she could change her mind, charged the barrier.

Lydia watched the older of the twins disappear. Suddenly, she dropped her mother`s hand and she too ran towards the barrier, after her sister.

Platform 9 ¾ was bustling with young wizards and witches eager to get to Hogwarts. The girls kissed their mother goodbye, and Rachel let Lydia be the first to board the Hogwarts express. As Rachel was about to step aboard, Rachel`s mother put her hand on her daughter`s shoulder. Rachel turned around.

"Look out for your sister. You`re the oldest, you`ve got to be the strong and responsible one."

"Yes mum. I`ll be strong, I promise. For Lyd."

"Good." Her mother gave her one last hug, and Rachel joined her sister on the train.

"What was that? Did you have second thoughts and decide you`d rather be a muggle?" Lydia teased, having not heard what her mother had said.

"Yeah, but I figured you`d get expelled without me."

Lydia rolled her eyes. She started to open a compartment, but seeing there were already two older boys with blazing hair and one smaller boy with messy black hair in it, she passed it by.

"You know it`s true, that`s why you`re not saying anything." Rachel said, smugly.

Lydia rolled her eyes, and opened the door to an empty compartment. She gestured to her sister in a 'after you' motion.

Rachel sat down in the compartment, and just as her sister was about to join her, a boy with a toad walked down the hall. Has he come up to Lydia, she said, "Ew!" and accidently bumped into him as she hurried into the compartment, and the toad flew out of his hands.

"I just found him, too." The boy said.

"Do you need help?" Rachel asked. The boy, who was in fact Neville Longbottom, thought she was Lydia going to do something else, and wriggled away after his pet.

A few minutes later, two boys knocked on the door, one with dark hair and skin, and the other sandy-haired boy with a lot of freckles. The latter said, "Can we sit 'ere? There`s no empty compartments left."

"Sure." Rachel said brightly. As the other boy started to close the door behind him, two more people ran up and asked to sit in their compartment.

"Thank you so much. I really didn't want to sit with that Draco boy." One of the girls said. "I`m Hannah Abbott."

"I`m Susan Bones." The other girl, apparently Susan, said.

"Dean Thomas." The dark-skinned boy said.

"Lydia Williamson. Yeah, _the_ Lydia Williamson, the one you`ve never heard of."

"I`m Seamus Finnigan. And you are…?" The sandy-haired boy said, looking at Rachel.

"I`m Rachel Williamson." Rachel said, blushing.

"You two are sisters, I`m guessing?"

"Yeah, twins actually. _Identical_ twins." Lydia said.

"Whoa."

And sooner than the girls would have liked, they were in a small chamber off the Great Hall, waiting, nervously, anxiously waiting, to be sorted. Rachel and Lydia were tightly holding hands.

Seamus, who had become friends with the girls over the course of the trip, turned to Rachel and whispered, "Look! Over there! It`s Harry Potter!"

"Really? He`s in our year?' Rachel stood on her toes, trying to catch a look of the Boy Who Lived. "That`s soo cool!"

Seamus smiled proudly for having spotted the celebrity. A ghost popped out of the wall behind him.

"Ah, Seamus…"

"New students!" the fat ghost boomed. Seamus jumped, and, frightened, he turned around. "About to be sorted, I suppose?"

The first years stood, shell-shocked. Professor McGonagall shooed away the ghosts and led them into the Great Hall.

As McGonagall paraded them past the tables and through the sea of black, gold, blue, yellow, and green, Lydia couldn't help gasping. Overhead, hundreds of candles floated, illuminating the grand room. Both girls knew that in a matter of minutes, they would join the older witches and wizards at one of the tables. Lydia stared at the pointed hat on a stool that was singing, but Rachel just stared at her sister, wondering what adventures this school had planned for them.

When the hat stopped singing, Professor McGonagall stepped forward, unrolling a piece of parchment. "When I call your name, you will put on the hat and sit on the stool to be sorted. Abbot, Hannah!"

Hannah from the train stepped forward, and picked up the hat and slipped it on. It fell over her eyes. Her blonde pigtails protruded from the bottom of the hat.

Seconds passed. "HUFFLEPUFF!" The hat barked.

Hannah scurried off to the table bathed in yellow, and McGonagall called out, "Bones, Susan!"

"HUFFLEPUFF!"

"Hopefully they`ll fill up the Hufflepuff section before we get called up. That`s one table I'd hate to sit at.

More people got called up, and soon McGonagall was crying out, "Finnigan, Seamus!"

"Good luck!" Whispered Rachel nervously as next to her, Seamus went pale.

"Yeah…see you soon, hopefully." He stumbled forward, and put on the hat.

Seconds ticked by. What was taking so long? What was going on? Rachel prayed the hat would just say something, anything. After almost a minute, the hat yelled out, "GRYFFINDOR!"

Rachel let out a sigh of relief.

As the sorting went on, Rachel saw two other twins get sorted. The hat had put them in different houses! But…that wouldn't happen to Rachel and Lydia, right? They were the same. Well, almost….

Lydia must have been thinking the same thing, because when the second of the Patil twins got sorted, she turned and gave her sister a confident smile.

Lydia turned back just in time to see 'Potter, Harry' set up and slide the hat on. The boy was tightly gripping the seat for dear life. He was almost up there for as much time as Seamus before the hat roared, "GRYFFINDOR!"

And then, "Weasley, Ron" was walking over to the Gryffindor table. "Williamson, Rachel!"

Lydia hugged her sister tightly, and whispered "I`ll be right behind you. See you at our table!"

Rachel could feel the eyes of everyone in the Great Hall follow her up to the stool. She sat down, and only broke eye contact with Lydia when the hat fell over her eyes. Lydia crossed her fingers.

"Hmm…Where to put you…brave, strong…very loyal and protective….Smart, too…" A voice whispered in her ear.

"I have to protect Lydia. I need to be in her house, please, please." Rachel thought.

"Not necessarily, you know….how about….. GRYFFINDOR!"

Rachel slid off the stool and the Gryffindor table greeted her with applause. Beaming, she sat down next to Seamus, who was giving her a standing ovation.

"Williamson, Lydia."

Now it was Lyd`s turn. "Is that girl your twin sister?" An older boy with bright orange hair asked.

"Yes."

"She`ll probably be a Gryffindor, then, like you. Just like Fred and me." The boy gestured to the identical boy next to him.

Lydia sat down nervously and pulled the hat down over her head. She hoped the hat didn't have lice from all the people who wore it before her.

"Ah, you`re tricky. Very cunning, resourceful… lots of ambition, more than your sister…very determined…smart like her though…and protective…"

"I want to be in Gryffindor with Ray. Put me in Gryffindor…" thought Lydia.

"Are you sure? You`ve got lots more ambition, and with that you could go farther in another house. Is Gryffindor truly what you really want? You could be in your sister`s shadow, and that would hinder your true potential." Whispered the hat.

Lydia was caught between her sister and her apparent destiny.

"I can see your mind, Lydia Williamson. I know you could be great."

"Okay." Lydia though, hoping Rachel would understand. But the hat said Lydia had great potential!

"I knew you`d choose to go on to greater things in SLYTHERIN!" The Sorting Hat bellowed, and Lydia slipped out of her seat and took her place among the Slytherins, and briefly looked up at Rachel, who was staring at her. Guiltily, Lydia avoided eye contact.

Lydia had been up with the hat a few seconds less than Seamus, but Rachel would have never guessed the hat would put her in a different house. Didn't it understand?

"Tough luck, with your twin in Slytherin. I can`t think of a single Slytherin that didn't go bad. Rotten eggs happen." Fred Weasley said. George punched him in the arm.

"Be nice."

"She could be different. You never know…" Seamus said, comfortingly.

"But that`s not lik-" George put his hand over his brother`s mouth.

Professor Dumbledore, the headmaster, stood and spoke briefly before letting them eat some magically-appearing food.

"Do you have any other siblings?" Seamus asked with a bit of potatoes in his mouth.

"No, it`s just me and Lyd. You?"

"None. You`re a pure-blood though, right, if you have a sister in…"

"Yeah. We`re not like the Blacks or the Malfoys, though. I`m related to them, but my parents frankly don't care about blood status."

"I`m half-and-half, me dad`s a Muggle. Mom didn't tell him she was a witch `till after they were married. Bit of a nasty shock for him." Seamus replied.

Rachel laughed. Seamus smiled content that he distracted her, even just temporarily, from the problem that was Lydia.

Lydia was sitting next to Draco Malfoy and a black-haired girl named Pansy Parkinson.

"….They should just not let them in all together. They`re as bad as squibs and muggles." Draco was saying. "And, for that matter, Hufflepuff. My father agrees" He added loudly, causing some Hufflepuffs to glare in their direction.

A older and scary-looking boy leaned across the table and said, "Ten galleons to whoever can hit Hagrid`s beard with pudding." Malfoy immediately picked up his spoon and started to try and hit the scruffy man`s beard. Once, he almost hit him, but Hagrid moved and it whizzed past his ear.

Lydia smiled and took out her wand. She used a charm her father had shown her over the summer when she had begged for him to teach her spells.

Hagrid saw a cockroach scurry on the table between the bowl of pudding and his plate. He tried to smash it with his fist, but missed and hit the edge of the bowl, launching pudding on his beard and fist. The cockroach scuttled away, unharmed.

At the Slytherin table, Draco high-fived Lydia and the older boy begrudgingly forked over the money. Lydia smiled contently. The Sorting Hat had been right; Slytherin really did bring out her true talent.

After Dumbledore spoke again and they sang the school song, the students filed out of the hall. A Slytherin prefect led Lydia and the other first years out of the hall and to the common room in the dungeons. Lydia smiled encouragingly at Rachel from across the hall, in a 'Things can still be the same, right?' sort of way. Seeing this, Rachel brightened and smiled back in an 'Of course!' way. Rachel and Lydia waved as the parted ways, both wondering if things would ever really be the same. The two girls, deep down, knew the truth, that things wouldn't truly, but neither accepted this.


	3. Chapter 3

**(A/N) Thank you yet again to my magnificent, flamboyant, and all around fantastic beta, BlueViolets87.**

**Second Year**

"Oh no. Here they come." Seamus whispered, keeping his head down.

"Just ignore them, Dean. Your dad _has _to be a wizard. Besides, you`re a great wizard, and anyway, who cares if your parents are muggles? You`re still worth more than all of them combined." Rachel said, comfortingly.

Dean smiled weakly.

"Yeah, just think of Hermione Granger. Best witch of our year, and what`s she? Muggle-born." Seamus added just as Malfoy and his pack of snarling Slytherins stalked up to our table. Ever since someone had written that warning on the wall in blood, Malfoy had been harassing the Muggle-borns even more viciously than usual. And, since Dean's mum was a muggle and his dad left when he was young, Dean had no way to prove his dad had been a wizard, labeling him a 'Mudblood' in Malfoy`s book.

Luckily for Dean, Malfoy and his pack stopped at Harry Potter, a couple seats down. Seamus let out a breath of relief and Rachel allowed herself to eat a bite of her waffle. Dean`s face started to return to its normal colour.

Rachel glanced over at Harry briefly. "Do you really think he`s the heir of Slytherin? He seemed so nice…"

"He can`t be." Seamus said simply. "We would hear him if he left the dorm room at night; the door squeaks. So obviously, he`s not the one who`s attacking the school, because most of the attacks happen at night."

"Someone should tell that to the Hufflepuffs." Dean said darkly. Ernie Macmillan and a couple of other Hufflepuffs had been spreading mean rumors about Harry ever since the snake incident last week.

"Tell them what? That you`ll be next, instead of them?" Malfoy jeered from behind Dean, who flinched.

"Leave him alone, Malfoy." Seamus said sternly.

"_Leave him alone, Mal-foy." _Lydia mocked in a sing-songy bad impression of Seamus`s voice. She looked nothing like her sister as she stood next to Malfoy and Pansy, hands on hips, her face smirking in a superior manner. The very air that hung around her made you lose confidence and feel as if you are were an insignificant grain of dirt on her shoe. Dean shrunk back, feeling this, and Seamus almost wished he hadn`t stood up to Malfoy. But Rachel was immune to all of this, somehow.

"Come on, Lyd. Is that really necessary?" Rachel said, rolling her eyes, as if her twin had just tied her shoelaces together or something, entirely immune to her sister`s pretentious snide. She turned to Malfoy. "Dean`s a half-blood, and if there`s a problem with being a half-blood, you might want to take it up with Dumbledore, since he`s one too." Malfoy`s eyes flicked nervously up to where the headmaster was sitting, as if Malfoy was worried that somehow Dumbledore was listening in. "Why don`t you just go back to your table before you say something you regret. See you later, Lydie." The untouchable and aristocratic aura around the Slytherins shattered as they stalked off to their table.

"Cheers, Rach." The brightness in Lydia`s voice was in no way fake as she gave a three-finger wave and walked after her friends.

"Thanks." Said Dean quietly, once Rachel`s sister was gone.

"No problem. Pass the butter please."

"That was brilliant, El. Did you see their faces?" Seamus said in amazement. Rachel beamed.

"It was nothing; they just needed for things to put thing in perspective."

"How can you deal with a sister like that?" Dean wondered, almost not realizing he`d said what he`d been thinking out loud.

Rachel frowned. "Like what? Lydia`s not bad. It`s not her fault the only Slytherins in her year are horridly cruel. She likes to have fun, but knows when to stop. Kinda like the Weasleys, in a way." She gestured towards Fred and George.

"I guess." Muttered Dean. Seamus kicked him under the table.

Across the room, Lydia was picking the crust off her toast. "…and my father says that The Ministry is on the brink of chucking Dumbledore out. I doubt he`ll be around much longer, especially if there`s another attack. It`s too bad whatever it is doesn't go after blood traitors…" Draco looked pointedly at Weasley, who was obliviously staring off into space.

"Do you have any idea what it is?" Lydia asked curiously.

"Well… my father won`t tell me exactly what it was, but he was at Hogwarts during the first time it was loose. He did hint it had something to do with that disgusting gatekeeper, Hagrid, though."

"It`s probably one of his horrid beasts." Pansy said, crinkling her nose in disgust.

"Well, I think it`s Potter. After that thing with the snake, I wouldn't be surprised. My father said…" Lydia sipped at her pumpkin juice and gazed at the lake and the grounds around the castle, subconsciously tuning Draco out.

The ground wasn't so cold anymore. The clouds had retreated from their overcast position of last night, leaving the sun hanging alone. Hopefully, this would warm things up. At night, the Slytherin dungeons got especially cold. Lydia had never mentioned this to anyone except Rachel, but the stony dungeons sometimes made her long for her warm bed back at home. Her roommates were cool, there was glowing green fire for light, and they were _right under the lake, _which was totally awesome, but sometimes a girl needs central heating and, like, to see her sister more than just the occasional brief meetings between class.

A large bang startled Lydia out of her thoughts.

Argus Filch burst through the Great Hall doors and hurried over to the head table. He whispered something to Professor McGonagall the Gryffindor table, and then stalked out. McGonagall followed, her cloak billowing behind her as she walked awfully fast for someone her age.

"I can`t wait for the match," Seamus said, "I bet it`ll be brilliant."

"Yeah…" Rachel said. "Hey, where`s Hermione? She said had a book that she thought I would like, and she was going to give it to me at breakfast…"

"She probably overslept." Dean remarked. "Probably was up late studying again last night."

* * *

Rachel heard the library floor creak from somewhere to the left of her, in one of the rows of shelves. Rachel looked away from the window, her eyes scanning the rows and rows of books. She drew her legs closer, hugging them to himself. "Who`s there?" Rachel whispered quietly.

There was more creaking. It was coming closer. Rachel fumbled for her wand. Finding it next to her on the sill, she clutched it tightly in her hand and, still holding her legs close to her with one hand.

"Who`s there?" Rachel demanded.

"Ray? Are you alright?"

"Lydie?" Rachel lowered her wand.

Lydia slipped onto the window seat next to her sister.

"What`s wrong?"

Rachel didn't bother replying 'nothing' or 'what do you mean?'. "Hermione."

Lydia was shocked. "The mud-" Rachel gave her a The Glare. "-ggle born who got petrified this morning? What does she have to do with anything?"

"It`s my fault."

"No, no, what do you mean? You were at the quidditch match, you weren't there, YOU didn't petrify her. I saw you at the match. You couldn't have."

"Do you know why she was in the library?"

"…."

"Last night, she said she`d found the perfect book for me. She was going to give it to me at breakfast…."

"So?"

"So, this morning she went to the library. To get a book. And almost got killed."

"But…they said she was in the magical beasts section. Why would she get you a book about magical beasts?"

"I don't know. Why didn't I tell her not to worry about it or something, so she didn't think it was so urgent she had to go early when nobody was there and almost die?"

Lydia hugged her twin. "Okay, here`s what were gonna do: first, the two of us are going to eat some cauldron cakes I have hidden in my trunk until you feel better. Then, we`ll deliver the leftover cakes to Hermione in the hospital wing for when she wakes up. Does that sound like a good idea?"

"Yeah….by the way, how many cauldron cakes do you have?"

"Well, at the beginning of the year I kinda charmed my trunk to be bigger on the inside than on the outside and crammed food in all available space. I used up about fifteen percent of it on a party earlier this year, but there's still a lot left. I think I have about thirty cakes."

Rachel smiled. "You defiantly have to show me how to do that to my trunk over the summer."

Lydia started to leave to get the caldron cakes but , hearing a laugh coming from Rachel`s direction.

"What`s so funny?" her sister inquired.

"Oh, nothing. I was just wondering how Hermione is going to react when she wakes up and sees all the food piled around her."

Rachel looked out the window and across the lake, wishing Seamus and Dean could see Lydia when she was with Rachel. No matter how many times she told them that Lydia wasn't like Pansy Parkinson at all, they still didn't understand that all Slytherins weren't the same cruel creatures that some of them (like Malfoy) were. One day, Rachel wished as her sister came in with her arms loaded with sugary cakes, they would realize that.


	4. Chapter 4

Third Year

A fine layer of snow covered the grounds surrounding the Williamson`s large house in the English countryside, but in California, U.S.A., the Williamson sisters were soaking up the sun of their favorite beach.

Lydia reclined on her towel, basking in the bright sunlight. South California seemed to be immune to winter, what with its defiantly hot beaches and, Lydia reminded herself as a group of topless boys walked by, hotter guys.

She could tell they were checking her out. Her new hot pink and forest green bikini seemed to be drawing a lot of attention from beach-goers. Lydia smiled flirtatiously at them, determined to get as much use out of it as she could before the winter holidays ended.

The shirtless boys soon parted as Rachel made her way over, her hands full of ice cream.

"Having Fun?" She said, handing Lydia her cone of Wild Berry.

"Oh yeah." She flipped her sunglasses down and dramatically licked her ice cream.

Rachel rolled her eyes.

* * *

Rachel rolled over and stared at the clock`s glowing numbers. The house was completely silent, the only noise coming from the road outside. Taking a deep breath, she rolled out of bed and grabbed her wand.

Putting a silencing charm on the floor in case of loose floorboards, she snuck downstairs to where Lydia was waiting.

The twins tiptoed outside to the backyard. The pool was shimmering in the moonlight, tempting the girls, whispering to their inner rebels.

Lydia put the towels down on a chair.

"You first." Rachel whispered.

Lydia slid off her pajama bottoms and underwear in a true Slytherin fashion. Her shirt and bra quickly followed before she dove head-first into the pool. When she came up for air, Lydia smiled deviously.

"Water`s nice. Merlin, it`s refreshing." She said expectantly.

A tiny part of Rachel was afraid of what would happen if the girls were caught. But Gryffindor bravery, adrenaline, and a bit of stupidity pushed this part into the back of her mind, and before she could hesitate or change her mind, in one quick motion Rachel thew caution to the wind, stripped, and jumped in. Lydia didn't close her eyes fast enough and her sister`s splash hit her, making her eyes sting.

"We should totally do this more often." Rachel said when she came up.

"Well, I heard there`s a nude beach, if you`re into that sort of thing…" Lydia laughed when Rachel splashed her playfully.

"Ew. Even if I was interested, I wouldn't want to drag you away from your admirers' at our usual place."

"Mmm. Too bad we can`t bring them back to England with us." Lydia said wistfully.

"What about Brent? Or was it Kent?"

"We broke up a week before the holidays. Then there was Nick. Then there wasn`t." She shrugged.

"Nick Lewis? The sixth year?" Rachel said, clearly impressed.

"The one and only."

"Have you ever…do you think you`ve ever properly fallen for someone?"

Lydia`s policy was simple. She liked her relationships quick and painless (for her, anyway). She never dated a guy for too long, and never felt anything too deep for them. It kept things interesting. When it started to get serious, she got out. She wasn`t being a slut, she just didn't want to get hurt. She`d explained this to Rachel once, but her sister hadn`t understood her logic. Rachel had a kind of strong loyalty in her relationships, and had only had one boyfriend. When she liked someone, she kept it to herself, and she always felt emotions in their entirety. She was often unsure of herself though, and never fully expressed her feelings or all the way acted on them.

"No. You know the policy."

"If you just let yourself..."

"So how`s Seamus?" Lyd cut her off. Rachel blushed.

"How did you…" Rachel knew the answer the same way she knew that Lyd wouldn`t ever date a boy she was in love with. They knew each other to the point where they could practically read each other's minds.

"You should ask him out."

"I though your philosophy was to never date a boy you really liked."

"That`s me, stupid. You`re different."

"He likes Lavender Brown."

"The ditzy one? Ugh. He`ll get over it. Then he`ll be all yours."

Rachel splashed her again.

"Hey! I`m only trying to help!"

Rachel knew she was right, but she wished that Finnigan could just get over Lavender already. She was pretty sure Dean could tell she liked Seamus.

"How many different guys have you dated?" She finally asked "I lost track."

"This past semester… eight, I think. Ever… honestly, I lost tract too. I remember the total count was seventeen around October, when you and Michel broke up."

"…."

"Have you had your first kiss yet?"

"No." Rachel murmured quietly. "Have you?"

"Yeah. I thought you and Mike…"

"No, he never…" She trailed off.

"You know, if you can get up the courage to kiss Seamus before I reach my thirty-third boyfriend, assuming that I`m up to twenty one, I`ll give you twenty quid."

"You`re on."

"If you can`t, you pay me twenty quid."

"Prepare to pay up."

"Yeah, right." Lydia said, climbing out of the pool.

Rachel jumped out and shoved her sister in.

When Lydia surfaced, she grabbed Rachel`s feet and pulled her in.

"Merry Christmas, Ray."


	5. Chapter 5

Fourth Year

A blonde brigade of Beauxbatons glided by in their robin`s egg blue uniforms, giggling, and almost everyone in the vicinity turned to watch them pass.

"Eh. I bet _they`ve_ all got dates to the Yule Ball." Katie said, rolling her eyes.

"You`d think." Rachel slammed her book shut, making a Beauxbatons boy sitting several seats down jump. "Sorry." She whispered.

"What`s wrong?" Katie asked, slightly raising one eyebrow.

"Nothing. Sometimes those girls can be a bit much."

"I totally agree." said Hermione, lifting her head from her book. "I came here to get some peace and quiet, and of course _Victor Krum_ comes and brings a gaggle of loud girls in his wake, and I can`t get _anything_ done!" She packed up her papers.

"Where are you going?" Rachel asked raising her eyebrows.

"I`m going out to the lake, or the Astronomy tower, or even the dungeons, whichever`s quietest and has the least abundance of _them._" She gave a pointed look towards the loud library-crashers.

"Good luck." Katie replied.

"I`ve never seen her so angry about something so trivial."

"Well, the stress is getting to us all. By the way, has _he _asked you to the Yule Ball yet?" Katie poked Rachel`s arm playfully. Katie, although she was a year older that Rachel, was easily Rachel`s third best friend, after Lydia and Seamus but before Dean (Sisters can totally count as friends. Rachel hated when people told her otherwise), and she was the only one who Rachel daily talked to about things like boys. Actually, it was mainly just one boy in particular.

Rachel looked around quickly to see if anybody had heard. She felt her face started to turn red. "Shhhhh!"

"Sorry. So, has he asked you or what?"

"Not yet," Whispered Rachel conspiratorially, "Although he and Dean were talking about something together in hushed voices as I was walking into breakfast this morning. They stopped before I got close enough to hear what they were talking about. I`m not sure," Rachel turned slightly more pink and lowered her voice even more, "But I think he`s going to ask me before the end of the week."

"Well he`d better hurry up, the ball`s only a couple days away!" Katie declared, eyes wide.

Behind them, on the other side of the bookshelf, Lydia was pinned against the books, kissing her thirty-second boyfriend, Terry Flynn. She had heard everything that had gone on behind her on the other side of the shelf. Rachel wasn`t a good whisperer.

Lydia opened her eyes and looked over Terry`s shoulder to see her sister and her sister`s friend leaving the library. Rachel didn`t see Lydia due to Terry.

Lydia thought about the bet she`d made almost a year before. Lydia was sure Rachel was going to win the bet within the week. Unfortunately, Lydia didn`t dare break up with Terry now to move on to number thirty-three, because it was too close to the ball to get a good guy. All the superior options were claimed by now.

Lydia hated to lose bets, even to Rachel. Lydia`d never lost before, and her competitive drive was there to make sure it stayed that way.

**LINEWOOTYEAH**

"Seamus?" Seamus looked up from his potions essay to see his favorite combination of blonde hair, blue eyes, and big genuine smile coming into the common room. "Dean told me you wanted to talk to me."

"Yeah," He said nervously, hesitating. Dean had told him to act natural, because it was just Rachel after all. But when Seamus looked into her dazzling blue eyes, he just couldn't seam form words to properly say what he wanted. "Rachel. Umm..."

She plopped down on the couch right next to him. He casually (translation: nervously) brushed his hair back. Then, he took a deep breath and went for it.

"So you`re my best friend an' I don't` want this to ruin our friendship but I really want to tell you that I`ve kinda fancied you for a while now an' I was really hoping that you`d-"

Seamus couldn`t form words again, but this time for an entirely different reason. Half way through his (terrible) pre-rehearsed question, she`d leaned over and kissed him. And she was still kissing him, actually. Seamus closed his eyes, and relaxed, trying to not freak out over the fact that Rachel was kissing him. Rachel, his best friend, and it was his first kiss. Seamus couldn`t relax. Was kissing supposed to be this…scary? Shocking? She seemed different somehow from the friend he knew when they were kissing.

Finally, when we pulled apart, she smiled and said, "I`m so glad you told me."

"So, does this mean that you`ll go to the ball with me?"

She smiled sweetly. "I`d love to… but someone already asked me, and I said yes." Seamus` eyes widened.

"Who?" He managed to sputter.

Just then, Dean walked into the common room. Seamus looked back at Rachel and saw she was gazing at Dean with the same expression she`d had earlier, right before she`d kissed Seamus.

"Dean!" Rachel jumped up and ran over to Dean and wrapped her arms around him. "I`m so glad we got to talk earlier." She raised her eyebrows.

"Hey, yeah, you`re welcome Rach." She giggled and kissed him.

Seamus turned away, unable to breathe. He ran up the stairs to his dorm room, feet pounding on the steps, fists clenched. He couldn`t believe Dean had manipulated him all this time. Rachel hadn`t like him after all, it was Dean after all this time. Seamus plumped face first onto his bed, deceived, outraged, and now a third wheel to his two best friends.

"What was that?" Seamus heard Dean`s voice from behind him. Seamus rolled over to glare at him.

"You tell me."

"I don`t know!" Dean said, gesturing wildly.

"How could you not know? It was your idea!" Seamus yelled, accidently flicking his wand towards Ron`s bed and lighting the bed sheets on fire. Neither of them were surprised, because of Seamus` tendency to do this (at least once a week), and Seamus put it out quickly with a familiar spell and repaired the sheets before storming out of the room.

**LINEYEAHBABAY**

"Hey guys." Rachel said, plopping down at her usual spot at the Gryffindor table, between Dean and Seamus. Neither of them looked up from their scrambled eggs.

Seamus picked up his plate. "I`ll leave you two alone. I don`t want to be a third wheel here." He moved down a few seats, next to Ron and Lavender.

"What is he talking about? Is there something wrong?"

"Hello? Dean? Dean!" Rachel snapped her fingers in front of his face. Down the table a bit, Lavender was squealing.

"If you weren't a girl, I`d punch you." Dean muttered.

"What? Why? Have you been Imperiused?"

"Have you?" Dean said, turning to me and looking straight into my eyes. His eyes were red, as if he hadn`t slept at all last night. "Why did you kiss me last night?"

"What?!" I laughed, "Is this some sort of joke?"

"Remember, in the common room, in front of Seamus? At about ten in the evening?"

"I was up in my dorm reading around ten. Just ask Hermione or Parvati."

"No, I saw you. When I came back to the common room from the library, you were sitting on the couch with Seamus, and then you got up, put your arms around me, told me you were glad we`d talked, and then kissed me. Seamus stormed out, I asked you what potions you were on, you stormed out, and I went after Seamus."

I started laughing. "Interesting dream. What potions are _you _on?"

"It`s real, Rach, I`m serious. That`s why Seamus is so mad at us."

"_Us_? That wasn`t me!" Rachel practically yelled.

"Then who was it?" Rachel fell silent. Who could it have been? Rachel looked around the room, and it dawned upon her who the perfect impersonator could have been. She glanced over at the Slytherin table. But why would she do something like that?

Unfortunately, there was only on girl who could have played her so well, which meant that for whatever reason, it had to be true. Rachel put her head in her hands and exhaled loudly. She was no longer hungry for scrambled eggs.

"What? Who was it?"

"_Lydia_, Dean. You kissed my sister." His eyes widened. Speechless.

Rachel walked out, leaving Dean, Seamus, her sister, her eggs, and her pride behind.

**Line?**

Before the Yule Ball, Katie had French braided her hair and reassured her that it wouldn`t be so bad. But she was horribly wrong. Rachel occasionally danced with Hermione or Katie, and when she wasn`t, she was looking around at all the happy couples dancing around her. Katie and Lane, Hermione and Krum, Dean and Brenna, Lydia and Terry, and (worst of all) Seamus and Lavender. After a while, when she thought she was about to break out in tears, she decided to leave early to save the last shred of dignity she had left.

Lydia was having the night of her life. She was dancing with Dan, number thirty-three, victorious. She was feeling guilty that she`d kissed Seamus to win the bet, but Rachel could do sooo much better than him. Across the room, she saw Rachel get up and head to the door.

Lydia felt a pang of sadness for her sister, but she knew that if she went over there right now she`d only make it worse. Rachel would get over it. Lydia always did. He was just another boy.

Seamus looked over Lavender`s shoulder at Rachel, watching her leave. She looked like a ghost in her silvery-gray dress as she walked out, looking back once but not at him.

"I`m going to get us some punch." He told Lavender. He made sure to walk past Dean.

"So you decided not to go with her after all of that?" Seamus said, layering every word with attitude.

"Mate, she was never going with me." Dean said, his face solemn.

"Oh really? It didn`t look that way the other day."

Dean took a deep breath. "Rachel was up in her dorm reading the whole night."

Seamus rolled his eyes.

"It was Lydia who was in the common room. She was, I don`t know what she was trying to do, but whatever it was, I think it worked. Rachel`s miserable, and I swear I didn`t and wouldn`t do that to you. Lydia played us, turned us against each other."

"Right." Seamus said, rolling his eyes. He walked off to the punch table.

When he came back to Lavender with their drinks, she giggled and said, "Thanks."

"What?" He said, raising an eyebrow.

"Nothing, it`s just…I didn`t think you were going to ask me to the ball."

"What made you think that?"

"Oh, nothing. Just something Rachel said Wednesday night when we were talking in the dorms."

"Wednesday?" His eyes widened. Wednesday was the night he`d got his heart ripped out by her. "What time was this, about?"

She gave him a questioning look. "Tenish, I think. Why?"

Seamus dropped his punch. "I have to go. I`m sorry." He turned and looked at Lavender sorrowfully. "I`ve made a big mistake."

"Go ahead." She said sadly.

He rushed out of the Great Hall.

When Seamus ran into the common room, Rachel wasn`t there, so he asked a first year girl to check up in her dorm, but she wasn`t there either. He searched practically the whole school before he found her sitting alone on a dark window seat in the library. Her silver headband shone in the moonlight.

He sat across from her on the seat. She didn`t move.

"I`m sorry. I was an idiot. She tricked me, and I was too stupid to see the truth."

"I was going to ask you to the ball, you know. I asked her, thinking she was you. She…"

"Dean told me that she kissed him and you stormed out." Rachel said finally.

"Yeah, you-I mean she-broke…" He stopped.

"I`ve liked you for a really long time, El. I didn`t even realize just how much until I thought I saw you kissing Dean and… well, it broke my heart."

"Just like you broke mine." Rachel said, finally turning towards him, her blue eyes swimming with tears.

"Let`s promise never to do that again." He said.

"Okay."

He leaned closer and whispered something into her ear, and she smiled.

Seamus stood up and offered her his hand. "Would you like to dance?"

"Sure."

The two stood there dancing in the moonlight to the faint music from the ball above, eyes close, until Rachel suggested they go back to the ball.

**LINENNONODNj**

The next morning, Lydia woke up to an uncomfortable jabbing in her back. Upon further inspection, her roommates confirmed that there was twenty quid in change stuck to her back with some sort of jinx.


	6. Chapter 6

Fifth Year

"I can`t get over the look on Potter`s face. Ah, don`t you just love what Umbridge is doing to the place?" Draco said, lounging in his usual chair.

Pansy, as per usual, agreed with Draco. "Totally. I`m so glad we finally have a professor who knows what she`s doing."

"Lupin wasn`t that terrible. At least he actually let us use our wands and didn`t dress like a pink puff ball." Lydia said, resting her legs on the coffee table. She hated it when everyone agreed with Draco.

Pansy snickered, and accidentally bumped against Goyle, making him drop some muffin crumbs on my legs. Lydia sighed and brushed them off. "I told you, that`s disgusting to just shove it in your mouth all at once. Don`t you have any pride?"

"Sorry" he said with a mouth full of muffin, crumbs and spit landing on her and Draco.

Lydia sighed again to let him know she didn`t appreciate the shower and wiped the Goyle off herself. Being friends with Goyle was like having a pet ape: he wasn`t intelligent, but you had to be patient with him and try and train him to do the right thing. Also, it was impossible to instill manners.

"I`m going to the owlery. Does anybody have anything to send?" she said, standing up.

"Yeah, I`ve got a love letter to send to Zambini's mum." Draco laughed. Balise chucked a balled up piece of parchment at him.

"Whatever, Malfoy."

Lydia fished her letter to her parents out of her robes as she flaunted out of the common room.

Her parents kept sending her letters every week and expected her to reply to every single one. Normally she and her parents didn`t write each other during the year, she left that to Rachel, but ever since summer break when Lydia and Rachel refused to talk to one another their mum had been constantly on Lydia to apologize to her sister.

"It`s just a row mum. Stop going crazy." Lydia had said.

Lydia`s mum wasn`t hearing it. "She`s the only sister you`ll ever have! You two used to be thick as thieves, and now you're fighting over something that was months ago? Just go tell her you`re sorry!"

"It`ll blow over, just leave me alone. Rachel will get over it eventually, she knows I didn`t mean to hurt her, I was only trying to help."

Anyway, Lydia wasn`t going to be the girl to knuckle under. The girls wouldn`t even look each other in the eye if they passed in the hall.

At the owlery, Lydia`s owl, June, was eagerly waiting. "Another one for Mum and Dad." Lydia whispered as she gave June the letter. "Please don`t wait for Mum to write a reply, just get out as fast as you can after she gets the letter."

Lydia heard a crinkle of parchment behind her and jumped.

It was Rachel, standing in the doorway.

"Look," Lydia said, unsure how she was going to finish her sentence.

Rachel walked up to her and silently shoved the letter at her before darting out.

Raising her eyebrows, Lydia ripped open the letter. A galleon on a chain and a note fell out.

_Dear Lyd,_

_What you did wasn`t okay. Please don`t ever pose as me again without my permission and muddle things up. Also, it wasn`t okay that you kissed Dean while pretending to be me. I don`t like him and you know it, you were just making everything much harder and more complicated._

_I`m sorry about sticking the money to you. That was a bit cruel, I`ll admit. _

_I`d be willing to forgive you if you forgave me and did a small favor for me._

_You know how Umbridge is not teaching us to defend ourselves and pretty much ruining Hogwarts? Well, Harry Potter started this thing called Dumbledore's Army, which is a club where he teaches people how to protect themselves and pretty much everything Umbridge isn`t teaching us. I`ve gone to one of the meetings with Dean and he`s really good. I suppose he has to be, considering he`s fought You-Know-Who._

_Anyways, I really want you to come with me to the meetings. I know you don`t like Umbridge either. If you want to come, meet me on the seventh floor by the tapestry with the trolls, and the galleon (I made it into a necklace so you wouldn`t forget and accidently spend it!) will tell you the day of the next meeting, if you look close enough._

_Please don`t tell the other Slytherins or Umbridge-supporters about this. If she finds out, there won`t be anything stopping her from completely taking over the school, and I think we both know that would be insanely bad._

_Please come. I miss how things use to be, and I don`t want to lose you._

_Rachel_

Lydia took a spare piece of parchment out of her pocket and hastily scrawled a reply, which she sent off to her sister via a school owl.

_Rach,_

_I`m sorry about the whole bit where I pretended to be you and messed around with your friends, I was just trying to protect you from getting hurt later. I guess Seamus means more to you than I thought, and you ended up getting hurt anyway. I promise it won`t happen again. By the way, I totally deserved the sticking money to me thing, I was acting like a total prat, I`ll admit._

_See you at the meeting._

_Lyd_

* * *

"So, do you want to study in the library with me on Friday?" Rachel asked her sister as they walked out of Lydia`s second DA meeting (Rachel`s third). Out of the corner of her eye, Rachel could see Katie, Seamus, and Dean waiting for her down the hall.

"Sorry, can`t. Anyways, your friends don`t like me."

"They barely know you. You and Katie get along, right?"

"Kinda. But, like I said, I can`t. I`m going to a party."

"Another one? Which Slytherin is arranging it this time?"

"Malfoy, as per usual. He`s managed to get firewiskey somehow, so it`s going to be even wilder than usual."

"Firewiskey?" Rachel said, raising her eyebrows, "You know if you guys get busted with that, you could get thrown out of school."

"Please. We won`t be caught, and Malfoy`s dad and his ministry buds wouldn`t let us get chucked out anyway."

"They won`t let _him _get chucked out, but who says he`ll bail the rest of you out?"

"Look, stop worrying so much."

"So you`re not going to the party?"

"I`m going to the party! You just need to chill!"

"How can I 'chill' if you get expelled?!"

"I`m not getting expelled, and I`m going to the party!" Lydia said, starting to walk away.

Rachel put her hand on her sister`s arm, stopping her. "No, you`re not!"

Lydia spun on her. "Just because you`re slightly older doesn`t give you power over me, so get over it!" Lydia pushed her hand away and walked off.

Rachel joined her friends and they headed back to the common room. "What was that about?" Dean asked.

"Nothing, just…sometimes she…." Rachel let out an angry huff. "I just wish…never mind."

"It`s a Slytherin thing, probably."

"No, it`s not. She`s not like most of them. Lyd`s down to earth and has a soul, but I just wish she would listen to me more often!"

"Sometimes you just have to let people do their own thing." Katie said gentility.

"Not if it`s dangerous!"

"How dangerous? Like She`s-a-Death-Eater dangerous? Tell-Dumbledore-because-she-is-going-to-severely-hurt-herself dangerous?" Seamus asked

"No, nothing like that, she knows better."

"If she knows better, maybe she`ll come to her senses and do the right thing."

"I hope so. But what if she does it just to prove me wrong and something bad happens?"

"Then I think you should do something to protect her." Seamus said.

Protect. Rachel remembered how Lydia had said in her letter that she`d been trying to protect Rachel when she pretended to be her.

Rachel didn`t want her sister to be expelled.

So she had to do it.

* * *

"Hey Draco."

"Lyd." Draco said to the blonde who had scurried up to him.

"So, Pansy and I were wondering if you`d gotten everything ready for the party yet. She said you guys were probably bringing the firewiskey into the castle a couple hours before, but I thought you guys might have already hid it somewhere so that it would be on hand for the party."

"We hid it already. Crabbe and Goyle were able to help me with that earlier this week."

"Did you hide it well? I heard a Hufflepuff whispering about finding something behind a book in the library, and I was afraid it was the firewiskey."

He laughed. "No, that wasn`t it. We stashed it in a place nobody ever goes, well, not unless you like to hear whiny complaining. Don`t worry about it."

"Alright, sorry I bothered you about it. I`m sure the party`s gonna rock! You`re doing such great preparations." She smiled and walked off in the direction of her next class, Slytherin robes fluttering in her wake.

* * *

It had to be here. This was the only place that fit Malfoy`s description.

Rachel burst into Moaning Myrtle`s bathroom. It was desolate and unused as ever.

"Live out my days alone, forgotten..." Myrtle was sobbing.

"Myrtle?" Rachel said, her voice echoing.

The ghostly girl came out through the door of one of the stalls. "What do you people want with me?"

"I`m sorry Myrtle, I need your help with something. Do you know if any boys brought something in here recently?"

"Boys? In my bathroom?!" She cried.

"Yes, they would have-"

"They put boxes in my stall!" Myrtle shouted. "No respect for the dead! They just piled it right in! I have half a mind to flush the boxes."

"That`s what I`m going to do." Rachel said. "But you can`t tell anyone that I did it."

"Flush the boxes! I won`t tell." the ghost laughed hauntingly.

"Which stall are the boxes in?" Rachel asked.

Myrtle flew into the second to last stall on the right. Rachel walked over and opened the door. There were two large boxes of bottles of firewiskey.

Rachel opened a bottle and threw the whole bottle into the toilet. As long as the bottles weren't open, they wouldn`t float.

One down.

* * *

Friday afternoon, when Rachel saw Lydia across the hall, arguing with a few Slytherins, she felt satisfied and a tad bit guilty. Lydia looked up and caught her eye. Rachel tried to remain calm as her sister marched over.

"What did you do?"

"Huh?" Rachel said, and felt Dean and Seamus appearing at her sides, ready to protect her.

"Don`t pretend, Rachel. We both know what you did." Lydia said, fuming. Her blue eyes were icy and sharp, unlike anything she`d ever directed at her sister.

"I was just trying to protect you." Rachel said as Katie walked up behind her, wand ready.

"Protect me?! I`m a big girl, Rach, I can handle myself. You don`t need to constantly protect me. I`m strong, probably stronger than you! Is that what this is?" Lydia said, lifting up the Dumbledore's Army galleon necklace.

"No, I-" Rachel said, trying to say strong and keep from crying.

"I don`t need you constantly looking over me like I`m a child! I Don`t want your protection! I don`t want this!" Lydia ripped off the necklace and threw it at her sister.

"Lydie," Rachel said, her voice barely above a whisper.

Lydia held up her hand. "Don`t."

She walked away.

The next morning, Rachel received an envelope.

Inside was a cap from a bottle of firewiskey.


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N: Just to warn you, this is the penultimate chapter, which is fancy-talk for second to last. **

Sixth Year

Slytherins were so boring.

Draco, Crabbe, and Goyle were working on some stupid project Draco was obsessed with all the time, so none of them wanted to go flying with Lydia anymore. Flying by yourself got boring after a while, when the repetition started to get annoying. Pansy and Daphne never wanted to do anything fun, she just sat around gossiping and painting her nails. Lydia usually would sit and talk with her until nail polish fumes gave Lydia a headache, but today she wasn`t feeling up to it. Tracey was busy with her boyfriend, and Zambini was busy with his girlfriend, and neither had any interest in helping Lydia prank people.

It was times like these that Lydia missed her sister the most.

* * *

"El?" Seamus called up the stairs to the girl`s dorms. He momentarily thought about trying to get up them again, but the fresh bruises on his knees and elbows made him decide otherwise.

"Hello? Can anyone up there hear me?" He yelled again, but if any girls up there heard him, they were just plain old blatantly ignoring him.

He sat down on the bottom step, which turned into a slide and slid him onto the floor.

Seamus looked over at Dean and Ginny, who had stopped snogging to stare at him in his attempt to get up the stairs. He tried to ignore the other people in the common room who were also staring, pointing, and even laughing.

Ginny said something to Dean that Seamus couldn't hear, and walked over, looking pityingly at Seamus. "Do you want me to go look for her?" She asked.

"Yeah, thanks." He said, feeling stupid.

Ginny scaled the stairs no problem and disappeared into the dorms.

Seamus stood up and tried to straighten out his wrinkled clothes. He was about to walk over and join Dean on the couch when Ginny appeared again.

"She wasn`t up there. Sorry."

Sighing, Seamus left the common room in search of his girlfriend.

* * *

In the end, Lydia ended up in the library.

She really knew things were bad if the best option of things to do was homework.

It was a relief that Rachel wasn`t in the library, although it would have given Lydia something to do. Originally, when Lydia had stopped going to DA meetings and talking to her, Rachel had constantly followed Lydia and tried to talk to her. Lydia wasn`t sure if she was trying to apologize for trying to destroy the firewiskey (thankfully Draco had been able to get more in time for the party) or if she just wanted to yell at Lydia for not listening to her, but Lydia avoid her at all costs.

Eventually, Rachel had given up on trying to talk to her, but over the summer she would try and lore Lydia into conversation or just have a one-sided conversation with her. Lydia told her parents the reason she wasn`t talking to Rachel was for an experiment, so that they wouldn`t be upset like last year. Rachel just went along with what Lydia had told them, and didn`t tell them about the firewiskey incident.

Anyway, Lydia still refused to talk to her sister. It was a harder break than their last big fight, because this time Lydia wasn`t reluctant to turn her back on Rachel. If Lydia ended this, it wouldn`t just be knuckling under, it would be admitting that Rachel was right, and that Lydia needed her.

Lydia couldn`t shake her sister from her head. She couldn`t concentrate, couldn`t even put quill to parchment and do her homework.

Lydia took out a scrap piece of paper and started to write.

_Stop thinking about Rachel. Stop thinking about Rachel. Stop thinking about Rachel._

_It`s her fault._

_It doesn`t matter she didn`t mean it._

_It`s worse than what I did. _

_Really._

_Stop. Thinking._

There was a loud banging from the behind Lydia. She glanced up to see Seamus Finnigan getting yelled at by Madame Prince for throwing open the doors too forcibly.

Seamus was Rachel`s boyfriend. He`d know if Rachel regretted trying to control Lydia`s life! He might not want to talk to her, but she`d make him.

Lydia crammed her papers in her bag and rushed after Seamus.

He didn`t see her trailing him down the corridor. Every time he passed a classroom, he`d peek in, then duck back out.

Right when Lydia was about to run up to him and ask about Rachel, he turned a corner. When Lydia ran around the corner, he`d disappeared. She stopped in her tracks.

There were voices coming from one of the classrooms.

It was a Saturday, which meant there wasn`t any classes. Lydia walked closer to investigate, and realized the voices had turned to sobbing.

Lydia recognized the voice of the person crying.

* * *

"El?"

Rachel didn`t turn around.

She immediately regretted not turning around. It was a very Lydia thing to do, to wait for the person to come in to your field of view before acknowledging them.

Lydia.

Rachel squeezed her eyes shut to stop crying before Seamus saw her face.

"I was looking all over the castle for you. Why are you in here? What`s wrong?" Rachel felt him sit down next to her on the ledge of the table. She opened her eyes and stared out the windows.

"I was just a bit …" She tried to say, but her voice faltered and she couldn`t speak. She tightened her grip on the fake galleon necklace she had in her hands. Lydia`s necklace. The one she`d thrown at Rachel.

His arm slipped around her shoulders. "Is it her again?"

Rachel tried to say something, but she was too afraid her voice would betray her again.

"What`d she do?! I swear, if she so much as-"

"She didn`t do anything." She whispered. "I did."

"You didn`t do anything that bad, and it was almost a year ago now. Forgive yourself."

"She didn`t, so I can`t. Besides, I`m a total hypocrite. I made her promise never to pretend to be me without my permission, and then I go and steal some Slytherin robes and pretend to be her. No wonder she hates me." Rachel wept loudly, no longer in control of herself, her voice ripping out of her throat.

"Does it matter what she thinks? You did it for the right reasons."

Rachel finally looked at him, and he saw her face was streaked with tears. "She`s my sister. What if it had been your cousin Fergus? Would it still be alright?!" She said, more harshly than she meant. He deflated a bit, and Rachel realized she was taking out her anger on her best friend. She was doing to him what Lydia had done to her.

"I`m sorry." she whispered.

They sat in silence in the darkened classroom and watched the sun set out the window. The reflection over the lake reminded Rachel of better times, when she`d looked out at the lake and thought about her sister.

"Did I ever tell you about what she did a couple years ago, when people were getting attacked?"

"You mean when Umbridge was attacking people, the Dementors were attacking people, the year the snake was attacking people, or the year a troll attacked people?"

"The snake." Rachel said, almost laughing. "Anyway, right after Hermione was attacked, I was upset because she was attacked in the library and I thought she had been there because of me. But then Lyd cheered me up by taking her entire supply of cauldron cakes and giving them to Hermione. We put them by her bed in the hospital wing, so that she could have them when she woke up. Those things last forever, so of course they were still good for when she was healed. Hermione was so happy, and Lydia made me promise not to tell her that she`d been the main contributor of the cakes. She said it was a Gryffindor thing, taking credit. She wanted to remain anonymous." The necklace quietly slipped out of Rachel`s hands and fell to the floor. Nobody noticed.

Rachel smiled and looked at Seamus. "Hermione never did find out who had supplied the cauldron cakes. I know you think Lydie`s mean, calculating, not trustworthy, and like Malfoy and the other mean Slytherins, but she`s really not. Just because you`re Slytherin doesn`t mean you have to be evil or like the stereotypical Slytherin person. Sure, Malfoy`s mean, Pansy`s mean, and Zambini`s mean and they are in that class of people that are pretty much evil, but not everyone is like that! Tracey Davis, for instance. She`s not half bad! Other houses just need to give each other a chance and not judge based on other`s reputations! If one Hufflepuff is a slacker, doesn`t mean they all are exactly like that one person! I know Lydia`s made bad choices sometimes, she`s got her faults, but everyone makes mistakes sometimes, and she truly is a great person. When you met us on the Hogwarts express for the first time, you were friend with both of us! It was only after she got sorted that you had a problem with her."

"She isn`t nice all the time."

"I know, and I`m sorry I`m ranting, but nobody`s nice all the time. I`m proof of that. Just look at what I did to her."

"You know her better than I do, El. I`m sorry I judged her right away. I know she means a lot to you."

"Thank you for finding me."

"I`ll always find you." He said, kissing her softly on the cheek.

The silence enveloped the pair for a moment of peace.

"I`ll meet you up in the common room. I just want to think for a few minutes." She said, kissing him. Seamus stood up and noticed Lydia`s necklace on the floor.

Picking it up, he asked, "What should I do with this?"

"I don`t know. I don`t want to look at it right now, though, it makes me sad."

Lydia saw Seamus starting to turn to leave, and she bolted down the hall and around the corner, and hid behind a suit of armor.

Seamus, unfortunately, had heard her footsteps.

"Stupefy!"

Lydia didn`t even have enough time to put up a shield charm.

He found her and frowned. "Alright, so when I unfreeze you, you`re going to come with me unless you want your sister finding out about this."

Lydia listened because she had no choice. He led her down a couple halls to another empty classroom, and put a jinx on the door to prevent people from listening in.

"You know what I think about you."

"I`m mean, untrustworthy, bitter, selfish, and totally controlling." Lydia said in a sing-song voice, feeling more like her old self. He`d told her that two years ago after she`d pretended to be Rachel.

"Yeah." He said. "But unfortunately, you`re also smart, resourceful, and you genuinely care about Rachel, which means you must have a soul. This makes it hard to completely despise you."

Lydia tossed her hair. "What do you want? Did you just pull me in here to tell me what you thought of me? 'cause it`s flattering that you think I`m an actual soulful human now, but I`ve got things to do."

Lydia did not actually have anywhere to go.

He sighed. "I realize that you pretended to be Rachel with good intentions, but obviously it didn`t seem or turn out that way, and Dean and I didn`t exactly fill her in on all the details, unless you did…"

"Which details?"

"You know, when you…"

"Kissed you?" Lydia said, and he didn`t meet her eyes.

"That. See, we didn`t mention it, and you didn`t either obviously, because we all know that would be a horrible betrayal and it would have hit a bit harder than you kissing Dean did. Therefore, you obviously care about her, despite what you`re trying to make her think by ignoring her and acting apathetic."

Now it was Lydia`s turn to avoid his eyes.

Seamus changed his tone to a slightly kinder one. "It hurts her, you just saw that. Why do you keep doing it?"

"She hurt me too." Lydia said, and Seamus realized he was having a heart-to-heart with the girl who he`d previously equivilated to the devil. "Do you think she`s the only one with feelings?"

"Okay, mutual hurt. Do you really want this to continue? Can you be the bigger person?"

Lydia didn`t say anything, and Seamus could tell from her expression that she didn`t want to lose the dispute.

"It wouldn`t go to Rachel`s head, if that`s what you`re thinking."

Silence.

"Whatever, but there is a war going on, and family has to stick together, which means-"

"You sound like my mother."

"Your mother is right. Do you love Rachel?" He asked

"Of course. She`s my sister." She said, with the same venom Rachel had used earlier when she had said it, but Lydia didn`t say sorry or feel guilty. Seamus to her wasn`t Seamus to Rachel.

"Then take this." He put Lydia`s necklace down on the desk next to them.

Lydia glared daggers at Seamus, and it took all his strength to stand tall against them.

"You might not like it when she protects you, but what about when you protect her? You kept our kiss a secret because you were protecting her. Because you care. And she cares about you too. So like it or not, Williamson, Rachel is going to protect you sometimes from things, and you just have to get over your pride because it`s for your own good."

Again, Lydia was speechless. This gave Seamus some strength.

"You can`t abandon her when she needs you."

"I know."

"You abandoned her last year."

"She didn`t need me."

Seamus raised his eyebrows. "Will you be there when she does?"

"Yes."

"Promise."

Lydia looked Seamus directly in the eyes with that intense stare of hers that only Lydia knew how to do. "I promise I will be there when she really needs me. I always have been, and I always will be."

"Good." Seamus said. He walked to the door, but stopped before he crossed over into the hall and turned back.

"I don`t consider you my friend at all, Lydia, and I don`t like you, but I do respect you." He looked once more at her necklace on the desk, which Lydia made no move to pick up, and left.

Lydia stood there, frozen in place, listening to the fast-fading sound of his footsteps. When she could hear them no more, she looked down at the necklace.


	8. Chapter 8

**A/N: Thank you to everyone who`s followed this story so far!This has been a great year, and it`s been hard to let this one go. It`s has been wonderful, writing this, and I definitely feel older and wiser now than I was when I first started this story.**

**I`d recommend rereading The Death Toll after this, it will have more meaning to it. Also, if you liked this story, I`d recommend reading some of the other things I`ve written in the same story line, like The Black Files (about Katie`s aunt, James and the Marauders, Lily, and their friends), The Clichéd Challenge (featuring Lily and James), and A Simple Melody (Staring Melody, a character featured heavily in The Black Files and is minorly referenced in this).**

**Now that I`ve said my goodbyes, I`m proud to present…**

Seventh Year

"I wonder if Dean`s alright." Seamus said for the five hundredth time that week, his best friend never far from his mind.

Rachel put her arm around her boyfriend reassuringly. "They rescued him, remember? It was on _Potterwatch_ the other night…"

"But what if he`s been caught again since then? He won`t stay safe forever."

"You can`t think like that now. You`ll drive yourself mad with all there is to worry about. Yes, Dean, Katie, Luna, and lots of other people are out there and could be attacked at any moment, but they are not defenseless. They`re part of the DA, and the DA was made to be able to fight back. They might not be necessarily guaranteed safe today, or tomorrow, or even a week from now, but we just have to keep hoping and the day will come when Harry will come back and defeat You-Know-Who, and then everyone will be happy and safe."

"Thanks, Rae."

"No problem. Just please promise me you won`t stop hoping. It`s all we`ve got left."

"Okay. I promise, Elle. For you."

"Thank you."

"Neville should be back by now…" Seamus said, looking nervously at the tunnel entrance.

"I`m sure Aberforth just gave him a lot of food to carry back, and he`s just weighed down." Rachel said, not taking her eyes off of where Neville should have appeared several minutes ago.

"He`s usually very quick about it…"

Rachel looked around at their little renegade camp; they were all tired, raggedy, and bruised. "Should one of us go after him to see if he`s alright?"

"We should give him a few more minutes." Hannah said, joining them. "Oh, Rach, what happened to your cheek? And your arm!"

Rachel turned away. "Everyone`s hurt, Hannah. Why does it matter? Seamus is worse."

Seamus, who himself had a black eye, grabbed Rachel`s chin and made her face him. "Elle, please tell me you didn`t go out and run into a Carrow. Why did you go out there?"

"Susan Bones was worried about her sister, who was still staying in the common room, so I rescued her and a couple others who wanted to come."

"That doesn`t answer my other question. Who did this to you?"

"Honestly, Seamus, I`m fine. I ran into Alecto, but we managed to get into the passage on the fourth floor before anyone got severely hurt."

"You got hurt. Was it Cruciatus?" Hannah pointed out.

Rachel sighed. "It`s not a big d-"

"Look who it is! Didn`t I tell you?"

Everyone turned to see Neville emerging from the passage to Hogsmeade with Harry, Ron, and Hermione at his side.

"HARRY!" Seamus yelled. Everyone jumped up and rushed over to them, mobbing the heroes, shouting, congratulating them. Rachel beamed. Everything was going to be okay.

* * *

Everyone in this room's been fighting and they've been driven in here because the Carrows were hunting them down. Everyone in here's proven they're loyal to Dumbledore—loyal to you." Neville was telling Harry. Seamus gave Rachel a worried glance. Why couldn`t Harry see they were ready to fight for him, die for him even?

"Look," Harry started, when suddenly two more people climbed out of the passage.

"We got your message, Neville! Hello, you three, I thought you must be here!" Dean called as he looked around the room. Rachel`s heart leapt at the sight of her friend.

Seamus roared with happiness and sprinted over to hug him.

Luna, who`d been behind Dean, started chatting with Harry and Neville while Rachel joined her two best friends.

"You two look completely battered. What happened?"

Rachel covered up her arm. "Carrows."

"We heard about the snatchers, mate. You`re lucky to get outta that one."

"If it hadn`t been for Harry, I don`t think I`d be here." Dean replied, nodding towards the Boy Who Just Kept On Living And Saving People.

The Weasleys and Lee Jordan came through the wall, causing another loud cheer to erupt.

Rachel looked around. "I suppose this means it`ll all be over very soon. Everyone`s coming back, which means…"

"…Something big is about to happen." Seamus finished. For the first time in weeks, Rachel saw hope, pure and true in her boyfriend`s eyes.

"It`s going to be brilliant." Rachel beamed, standing on her toes to kiss him.

"Terrific." Dean interjected. "I know this is a big moment and all, but you guys had all year to snog while I wasn`t around, so can you please keep it to a minimum, for when it`s really necessary now, in front of me?"

"Sorry mate." Seams said, and Rachel smiled sheepishly.

"You've got to stop this!" Harry was shouting Neville. "What did you call them all back for? This is insane—"

"We're fighting aren't we?" interrupted Dean, holding his fake Galleon. "The message said Harry was back, and we were going to fight! I'll have to get a wand, though—"

"You haven't got a wand—?"Seamus started.

"It`s a long story."

* * *

"KATIE!" Rachel tackled her best friend as soon as she stepped down into the room.

"Hey, you! Did I miss anything good?"

"Nah, just a couple insane teachers and some midnight graffiti escapades."

Katie looked around. "No sign of…?"

"No Slytherins joined up with the DA while you were away, if that`s what you mean."

The boys joined them, and a group hug ensued. "Dean Thomas! I heard you had a run in with some snatchers at Malfoy Manner!"

"Eh, I managed to fight my way outta that one."

Seamus guffawed. "With no wand?"

"Tooth and nail, mate."

"More like Potter came and got you out." Rachel chuckled.

"Psh. I had it all under control by the time he swooped in."

* * *

Rachel stood with her friends as they waited for the battle to begin.

"Those fifth years shouldn`t be staying, they`re going to get themselves killed." Parvati said in a hushed voice.

Dean chuckled darkly. "We`re all going to get killed, Par. That`s kinda the point, hence the morbid air and all."

"McGonagall will probably make the younger students leave, soon enough." Katie said.

"Rae, look! That`s your dad, isn't it? Up there, over by the teachers?" Seamus pointed.

Rachel beamed proudly. "Yeah, That`s him. He`s an auror."

"That`s my aunt next to him!" Katie said, waving. Her aunt winked back at her, and nudged Rachel`s dad. He nodded at his daughter, eyes full of pride.

Suddenly, a voice that seemed to come from inside the ancient walls themselves made their smiles fade.

* * *

Lydia almost didn`t recognize her sister.

When the voice ended, she found spotted Rachel across the Great Hall. She was bruised and cut, like most of the other students, but her head was held high. Despite what was going on, she carried herself with Lydia-like confidence. Even though she no longer resembled the first year girls who`d held their mother`s hand on Platform 9 ¾, she was still the striking mirror image of her sister.

Three seats down from Lydia, Pansy Parkinson stood up, pointing at Harry. "But he's there! Potter's there! Someone grab him!"

The Gryffindors stood in front of Harry, shielding him from the Slytherin`s vision. The Ravenclaws and Hufflepuffs stood as well, showing their support. Lydia just started at Pansy, wondering if she would have offered Lydia up to Voldemort if she was the one he asked for. Potter was no friend of theirs, but there was a bond between students, a certain code. Besides, he was the only one who could stop the madness.

"Thank you, Miss Parkinson," said Professor McGonagall snidely. "You will leave the Hall first with Mr. Filch. If the rest of your House could follow."

Lydia`s house stood, and she felt herself being pushed out, ushered away from the hall, the resistance, and her sister. She tried to elbow her way back into the hall, but younger students from the other houses were in her way, swarming reluctantly after the Slytherins.

Tracey Davis, Lydia`s best friend and roommate, appeared at her shoulder. "You staying to fight?"

"Yeah. Don`t you just hate how they assume that none of us want to stay?" Lydia called back over the voices of hundreds of first through sixth years who were being led upstairs.

"Over here." Tracey and Lydia steered themselves through the mob. When they finally broke free, the pair sprinted down the vacant halls.

Lydia pushed aside a tapestry and tapped the wall with her wand. "Come on, short cut."

"You are going to fight on Potter`s side, right?" Tracey asked.

Lydia smirked. "`Course I am, I was part of the original DA, remember? What about you?"

Tracey blew stray hair out of her face as they ran down the darkened passage. "I`m with Potter on this one too."

For a while, it was only the pounding of their feet and the beating of their hearts, until Lydia said, "I hope Blake gets out alright."

Blake was Tracey`s little brother, in fifth year.

Tracey increased her pace. "He`s a smart kid. He`ll know to get to Hogsmeade and stay safe. Is your sister…?"

"She`s in the hall with everyone else." Lydia tapped the wall at the end of the passage and it slid aside, revealing the main corridor.

The girls sprinted as fast as they could to the Great Hall, and skidded to a stop at the giant doors.

Tracey threw open the doors, and Lydia sighed in disappointment. Everyone had already left, gone to their posts to await the Death Eaters.

"The front gates," Lydia said suddenly, "They would have sent a group to guard the front gates."

The girls took off down the empty hallow halls, sliding around corners until they were out the front door of the school and sprinting across the grounds towards a group led by Arthur Weasley. Behind Arthur, Ernie McMillian raised his wand, recognizing Tracey and concluding which twin Lydia was.

"They`re Slytherins, come back to fight alongside the Death Eaters! STUPEFY!"

Lydia was faster. "Protego!"

"We`re on your side! Stop!" Tracey shouted. The pair halted as more wands were pointed at them. Lydia noticed sadly that Rachel and her friends were not in this patrol.

"I`m part of the DA!" Lydia remembered, holding up her hands in the universal sign for surrender. "We`re honestly on your side."

Ernie scoffed. "Your sister`s in the DA, not you."

Lydia reached into her pocket and pulled out the fake galleon necklace she`d once thrown at Rachel. "I got a message that we were going to fight because Harry was back. I`m part of the DA and Tracey`s with me, and besides, you need people on your side, so it really doesn't matter whether you like me and my friend or not or you just think we`re scum because we`re Slytherin and another Slytherin wanted to hand Potter over. We`re fighting with you. If you want to discriminate against us because we`re pureblood Slytherins, you might want to rethink who`s side you`re on, because last time I checked, the discriminatory jerks were with Voldemort. Yeah, that`s right, I said it. Get over it."

Lydia put the necklace around her neck and stared at Arthur Weasley, waiting to see what he would say.

After a long pause, Arthur smiled and lowered his wand slightly, the others behind him mimicking his motions (minus the smiling for most of them).

"You`re welcome to fight with us any day, Ms.…."

"Williamson. Lydia Williamson. My friend Tracey will be fighting alongside me."

"Naturally."

The girls joined the group, wands at the ready.

Tracey turned to her friend, a ghost of a smile on her lips. "That was pretty amazing."

"It was, wasn`t it?" Lydia whispered back, returning the smile. "I think I scared those guys in the back badly."

"He`s probably a Hufflepuff." Tracey snickered.

* * *

"Dean, watch out!" Rachel screamed as a curse missed his arm by inches. She tossed him her wand, and Katie cast a shield charm around Rachel.

Dean pointed Rachel`s wand at the masked offender. "Expelliarmus!" He caught the second wand and tossed Rachel her wand back. "Thanks!"

"Katie, cover me, I`m going out and down the stairs."

"Got you. Petrificus Totalus."

Rachel dodged stray spells and ran out onto the grounds, which were littered with duelers.

A tall Death Eater, Mulciber, hit Rachel with a dose of the Cruciatus Curse.

"OI! Stupif-" Katie started to yell, but got hit in the leg with a curse and collapsed, almost dropping her wand. She gasped and tried again, pain visible on her face. "St-"

"INCENDIO!" roared Seamus, lighting Mulciber`s robes on fire. He rushed over to his friends and helped them up.

Rachel was pale, her breathing was ragged, and there were tears in her eyes that were dangerously close to falling. "Tha-Stupefy!-thank you."

"Flipendo!" Katie shouted, knocking the flaming Death Eater backwards into the path of another dueling pair. "You look terrible." She commented to Seamus, who was much bloodier and beat up (It hadn't seemed possible before) than he had been last they`d seen him.

"It`s only a flesh wound. You girls alright?"

"We`re fine. I`ve built up a bit of tolerance to Cruciatus from the Carrows." Rachel said, pretending that it hadn`t just felt like her soul was being painfully ripped from her body.

A killing curse missed the trio by mere inches, and Katie and Rachel started dueling the woman who`d cursed Katie. Seamus ran off to go expel some dementors.

Katie shot first. "Petrificus Totalus."

"Protego!" The woman yelled back.

"Expelliarmus!" Rachel missed.

"Furnunculus."

The woman focused on Katie. "Crucio!"

Katie fell to her knees, and Rachel could tell this was her friend`s first experience with this spell. Rachel panicked as Katie managed to gasp out screams of agony.

Rachel reacted instinctively, forgetting her wand and shouting as she shielded her best friend by stepping into the path of the curse. "Leave her alone!"

"NO!" Rachel heard Katie`s voice over her own cries that erupted. "Expelliarmus! Expelliarmus!" Rachel couldn`t see, but she could tell Katie was still dizzy and couldn`t focus on the Death Eater Woman.

"Flipendo! Stupefy!" A strong voice behind the girls shouted as Katie staggered to her feet.

Rachel blinked until she could see clearly, and looked behind her. Katie was smiling as best she could at the moment, and standing next to her was a tall woman with long dark hair and a kind smile.

"Rachel, this is my aunt the auror, the one I was talking about earlier."

Katie and her aunt helped Rachel to her feet.

"Thanks for that, but stop being such a Gryffindor, I don`t want you to get seriously hurt for me."

"Rachel Williamson? You`re a Gryffindor, huh? Figures," Katie`s aunt said, "I had a friend like you once. She saved my life." She smiled at the memory of her friend. "I just wish…That I`d been able to stop her from taking that spell."

"Thank you." Rachel said quietly.

"No problem. You`re a good kid, you`re just too much like your aunt for your own good. She was a great woman, and she`d be proud of you. Just remember, challenges are made to be overcome, but that doesn`t mean you should blindly accept every challenge without knowing the consequences. Your dad says hi, by the way." Katie`s aunt winked and disappeared into the thick of the battle.

"Cool aunt." Rachel said as she blocked a spell.

"She`s the best." Katie replied, stunning her opponent, "And she`s right. I appreciate it, but I don`t know what I would do if you died intersecting a spell meant for me."

"Is that what happened to your aunt`s friend?"

"Yeah. They were a little older than us..."

"What was her name?"

"Um, Melody, I think."

"Melody, as in …?"

"As in what?"

"Oh, nothing, just… my dad had a half-sister, my Aunt Melody, who died in the first wizarding war."

The girls glanced off in the direction in which Katie`s aunt had gone.

"Do you think…?"

* * *

"EXPECTO PATRONUM!" bellowed Lydia, focusing on a memory of her and Rachel at the beach in third year. A silvery hedgehog leapt from her wand.

Lydia helped up the boy who`d almost gotten his soul sucked out. "Thanks, Rach. I was sick the day Harry taught us how to ward Dementors off."

She was about to just pretend she was Rachel, but then she remembered the promise she`d made after the last time she`d done that. "I`m Lydia, actually, Rachel`s sister. You`d have known that if you`d shown up at the DA meeting that day, because Rachel`s patronus is an owl."

"Oh." The boy was stunned, and obviously had no idea what to say back.

"You don`t have to act so scared. I don`t bite."

"Sorry…that was pretty cool of you to save me."

"Why wouldn`t I?"

She stunned a giant spider that had been climbing up the hill towards them.

"I don`t know. You just seem…" The boy turned towards the oncoming storm of arachnids and helped to fend them off.

"Seem what? Are you prejudiced against Slytherins?"

"No, no, just everyone always says you`re pretty much-"

"Evil?"

"No. Untouchable."

"That`s dumb."

The boy shrugged. "It`s just what I`ve heard."

"What`s your name, kid?"

"Jackson McMillian."

"As in Ernie`s little brother? Aren`t you too young to fight? I thought all the fifth years were evacuated."

"Most of them were." Jackson winked, knowing Lydia would keep his secret.

"I snuck back too, since they tried to get rid of all the Slytherins despite the fact that some of us actually wanted fight against the Death Eaters. You`d better not let your brother see you, or he`ll send you straight to Hogsmeade."

Jackson smirked and blasted away another round of spiders. "I`d like to see him try. Does your sister know you`re here?"

"I doubt it. We don`t exactly get along."

"Sibling rivalries?"

"Something like that."

"You should find her, now`s not the time to fight about who`s the fastest or who has the better house or whatever."

"Are you seriously giving me advice about getting along with my sister at a time like this?"

"Depends. Do you feel advised?"

Lydia laughed and shock her head in disbelief. "You`re an odd little kid, you know that McMillian?"

"And you`re not the person everyone says you are, not really. You`re kind and brave, angelic, almost…"

Lydia tried to punch him in the shoulder, but he ducked out of the way, laughing.

"A very gusty, stupid, odd little kid."

"Where are you going?" Jackson said, as Lydia started up towards the castle, into the center of the fight.

"I`m going to find my sister. See you after the battle, you little bratty psychologist."

"Ha! Good luck, Angel. After this is all over, meet me by the Ravenclaw table in the Great Hall and tell me how it went."

The kid was defiantly the smartest fifth year she'd ever met, Lydia thought begrudgingly as she set off in search of Rachel, the fake galleon hitting her chest right above her heart as she ran.

* * *

One hour.

He`d given them one hour.

Rachel was huddled in the Great Hall with the others, wondering what was going to happen. Around her, Katie, Hannah, Dean all didn`t said a word. She knew their eyes, like hers, were searching through the piles of the dead in the center of the room, looking for those missing from the hall.

Susan Bones wasn`t among the dead, neither was Neville, nor Ernie. Rachel recognized Adam Bennet, who had been a sixth year Gryffindor who must have snuck back to the castle to fight.

She knew Lydia wouldn`t be there. Lydia was far gone, having been sent away with the rest of the Slytherins.

Finally, Rachel spotted Seamus –alive and well, although extremely bashed-up. He was limping slightly as he walked into the Great Hall with Neville.

Rachel beamed, despite the death, sadness, and war all around her. He was alive, alright, and that was the only thing she was focused on as Rachel ran across the room and fell into her boyfriend`s arms.

"I`m so glad you`re safe."

Rachel couldn`t tell who said it. She was enveloped in his arms, the only thing that kept out the darkness and the pain.

Out of respect for the dead, the two walked out of the room and into the empty hall outside.

"Do you think Harry`s got a plan?"

"Merlin, I hope so. I`d be willing to die for him, but I was kind of hoping it wouldn`t come to that."

"I don`t think everyone`s going to die."

"What do you mean? You think Harry`s got a secret weapon or something?"

"No, well maybe, but it`s just when I woke up this morning, on my hammock in the Room of Requirement, I looked over at you across the room. You were still sleeping, and you looked so peaceful, so happy and pure and serene, something I hadn`t in a longtime, not since before Dumbledore died. And I knew something wonderful was going to happen today. It reminded me that good things still existed, and life would get better. When Harry, Dean, and Katie came back, I had that same feeling. Terrible things happen, but every morning the sun rises and people smile and laugh. There is so much still left to live for, so many things that still need to happen! We can`t die yet! Life isn`t fair, but that doesn`t mean it can`t be good."

"What do you want to do before you die?"

Rachel looked away for a moment, the fire in her eyes dimming a bit. "I want things to be like they used to be with me and Lydia again. I want get my sister back."

She looked back up at him. "What do you want to do?"

Seamus just smiled and brought his lips to hers in response, as if it was inevitable.

In that moment, Rachel and Seamus were blissfully free of the sorrow and the pain haunting the castle as they shared the kiss that, unbeknownst to them at the time, was to be their last.

Forty-seven minutes, now.

* * *

Rachel was making it really hard for Lydia to take Jackson`s advice.

First, she walked past the lines of the dead, checking to make sure her twin wasn`t among the corpses. Next, Lydia, enlisting the help of Tracey, searched every inch of the Great Hall. Tracey asked Katie where Rachel was (Lydia didn`t like the way Katie looked at Lydia as if she were worse than Voldemort), but Katie just shrugged.

When she noticed Jackson walk in to the Great Hall, Lydia didn`t bother to update him, partially because there was no progress, partially because he was talking to Katie, who looked positively furious at the fact that he was here.

In the end, Lydia ended up slumped against the wall next to Tracey, wondering if finding her sister was the best idea at a time like this. It might just make Rachel cry.

* * *

When Seamus and Rachel rejoined their friends, Katie momentarily stopped scolding Ernie's little brother (who took the opportunity to run off) and pointed a finger at Rachel.

"You. Somebody was asking about you…"

"Who was it?"

"Oh, it`s right on the tip of my tongue…..erg, Jackson made me forget…..Oi, Dean, come `ere."

Dean shuffled over. "What`s up?"

"What`s that girl`s name that came over asking about Rachel?"

"The red head? Oh, I know this…give me a minute."

"I can see her face, I just forgot her name."

"It`s not Lauren, is it?"

"No, no, she`s that other one…she`s got a little brother, Blake."

"Crista?"

"No. Why can I remember her brother`s name but not hers?"

"Wait, I think I know the one…starts with a 'T', I think…"

"Yeah, that`s the one!"

"Tara?"

"Thalia?"

"Tasha?"

"Tawny?"

"Tally?"

"Tuesday?"

"Now you`re just being ridiculous."

"Taylor? I defiantly know which one you mean. She`s a Slytherin…"

Seamus narrowed his eyes. "Wait, she`s Slytherin? I though all the Slytherins left."

"Evidently not….Trixie?"

"Tracey." Rachel whispered.

Dean and Katie threw their hands up and roared in unison, "That`s it!"

"She`s Lydia`s friend, isn`t she?"

"How`d she get back?"

"Should we tell someone a Slytherin got back?"

Katie shook her head. "She`s fighting for us, apparently."

"Why was she looking for me?"

"I haven`t a clue, mate. I don`t even know where she went."

"Speaking of disappearing acts, has anyone seen Potter?"

* * *

Harry Potter was dead, yet the battle raged on.

Lydia easily deflected a curse, not really focusing on fighting. Jackson`s words still rang in her head, the truth pounding around in her skull.

She had to talk to Rachel. She had to find her, apologize before anything could happen. Like she had promised Rachel`s annoying boyfriend, Lydia was going to be there when it mattered. Just as soon as she found Rachel, that is.

A curse hit her side, and Lydia turned away in pain, squeezing her eyes shut.

When Lydia opened them, she saw her.

Across the hall, backed practically into a corner, Rachel was locked in a duel with a tall, snarly Death Eater.

Weaving thought the mass of people between them, Lydia kept her eyes locked on her twin.

Less than ten feet away, Lydia saw a particularly nasty spell narrowly miss her sister.

"RACHEL!"

Rachel glanced up to see who`d screamed her name.

"I`m sorry!"

Rachel`s jaw dropped. The Death Eater saw the opportunity.

"Avada Kedavra!"

It happened in less than an instant, but in that instant, time seemed to slow.

Lydia`s eyes widened in shock.

Rachel`s eyes widened in shock.

A wand was dropped.

The girl`s eyes met.

Rachel remembered the promise she`d made to her mother before going on the Hogwarts Express the very first time. "I`ll be strong, I promise. For Lyd."

So she stayed strong.

Rachel`s eyes shut.

A body hit the ground.

One sister`s heart stopped beating.

The other sister`s heart broke.

Rachel opened her eyes, heard the shouts and noise of the battle around her, saw the world still moving.

Was this what it was like to be dead?

Was she a ghost?

Why did everything still hurt so much?

She saw the laughing Death Eater.

She looked for Lyd.

She looked for Lyd.

No, this wasn`t right.

She looked down.

Rachel went numb.

Her legs gave out.

She fell to the floor next to the broken body of her twin.

No.

Rachel put her hand to Lydia`s wrist, searching for a pulse that wasn`t there.

No.

Her vision blurred, and through the tears, Rachel caught sight of something around her sister`s neck.

A chain. A very familiar chain. Rachel pulled out the fake galleon attached to the chain, and felt the other fake galleon around her own neck burn against her skin.

More tears fell.

"Lydie."

There was so much more Rachel had wanted to say. She hadn`t even gotten to tell her sister she was sorry.

Now Rachel understood why Katie`s aunt had told her not to jump in front of spells to save the people she loved.

It was because it only hurt them more.

Rachel looked up at the Death Eater, her grief transforming into pure, concentrated hatred.

In a DA meeting, Harry had once told them that the unforgivable curses only worked if you really meant it.

Rachel really meant it.

She raised her wand, pointing it straight at the Death Eater`s heart.

"Avada Kedavra."

Rachel`s lips hadn`t moved. She hadn`t formed her thoughts into words yet, but the very spell she had in mind was cast, only by her opponent.

It was headed straight for her, and this time, her twin was not there to save her. Besides, Rachel really didn`t want to be saved.

Rachel didn`t close her eyes.

She looked down at her sister, held her head up high with brave determination in the true Gryffindor fashion, and smiled, welcoming the new adventure to come.


End file.
